Legal Question in Criminal Law in Colorado

My daughter stole my credit card and I reported and filed charges for this. She went to court and was assigned community service hours... (she went to court in Feb of '09). In April of '09 she was admitted to a residential facility for mental health and chemical abuse issues. She was there for 8 months. Discharged in Dec of '09. At this time (5/10) she still has not completed her hours of community service. She was scheduled for court last month and did not attend court. Since her discharge from the residential facility she has been doing great... earned her GED, is attending school at the denver art institute and is attending NA meetings. She is doing great. But she has so much going on she has not been able to complete her community service hours. She will turn 18 on 5/21.

With all that being said I was wondering if I can reverse these charges? Have them dropped since she has turned her life around so wonderfully? If this is not possible, what would be my chances of having her sentence changed to a fine or a stipulation of attending meetings and UA tests. Now that she is doing so well and is so busy with school and NA meetings she really doesn't have time for community service hours on top of all that she is doing. Any thoughts or advice? Thanks, Kristi


Asked on 5/03/10, 1:40 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Daniel Fenaughty FENAUGHTY & ASSOCIATES, PC

Good news/bad news. If there was guilty plea entered, the case cannot be undone. If she failed to appear at court last month, a warrant for her arrest has likely been issued. If she does nothing, she will be arrested and probation/deferred will be violated and revoked. There will be jail. On the plus side, she can get in front of this, file a motion to quash the arrest warrant, then move to modify probation, get the UPS hours reduced or otherwise changed (substitute NA meetings- as you suggest). Do that now and this can likely be handled without jail. I often step in to quiet the court, satisfy probation, and get these things resolved before they get out of hand. Good luck. Call me if you want someone who knows how to do this.

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Answered on 5/08/10, 9:18 pm


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